what does your electricity cost?

[Bird]

As a point of reference, my utility bill runs around $2200 per year for a 1450 sq. ft. brick rancher built in 1953...
I have a heat pump and electric water heater...
Not relevant to you guys up North...
That heat pump would be pretty worthless in cold climates...
I do have gas logs for back up...

Our house is total electric, 1295 sq.ft., built in 1991, double pane windows, pretty well insulated, heat pump, but also has a 525 sq.ft. shop/recreation room under the same roof, but not included in the central air. So I put in a window unit air-conditioner with heat strip. We have a small CFL bulb outside the back door and another outside over the garage door that are left on 24/7. We also have one plant grow lamp in the shop that's on 24/7 and a two tube 4' florescent light with one tube being a plant grow light in the garage that's on 24/7. My computer's never turned off and one TV is on at least 16 hours a day.

Our total electric cost was $2,405.39 in 2011 and $1,832.72 in 2012.

The house does have a fireplace, but I cleaned the ashes out when we bought the house 7 years ago, and we've never used the fireplace; just leave the glass doors and the flue shut.:laughing:

 

[RickB]

I pay 23 cents per KwH. You guys have got it good. Still, because I installed a small solar system, I got a credit of $60.00 the last bill.

Wow. That's at least double and maybe triple what some of us pay. Oil fired generation or are we truly spoiled?
At those rates, solar has to pay for itself in a reasonable time. Glad you got a credit. That's a load of diesel for the Kioti!
And you appear to live (sorry, never been to your beautiful country) in the "populated" East, not too far from the coast,
so your transmission costs are likely as low as they'll get in your area.

Kinda like reminding us to stop complaining "here" of gasoline prices.

You might want to convert AU dollars to US to get a true comparison. I have no idea what the exchange rate is.

 

[RickB]

Here in NC using Duke Energy they break it down as follows:

Basic Facilities Charge: $9.90

July-Oct: .092898/kWh for the first 350 kWh
.092897/kWh after the first 350 kWh

Nov-June: .092898/kWh for the first 350 kWh
.084192/kWh after the first 350 kWh

I am positive these rates will go up due to their coal fired plants and new EPA regs...

As a point of reference, my utility bill runs around $2200 per year for a 1450 sq. ft. brick rancher built in 1953...
I have a heat pump and electric water heater...
Not relevant to you guys up North...
That heat pump would be pretty worthless in cold climates...
I do have gas logs for back up...

DL, I'm glad to see your response here (and you know why!). I just reviewed the bill I got yesterday and the TOTAL per kW price after all fees, taxes, etc is $0.18. That ties the highest US rate posted in this thread; matched by a guy in NH.
My annual electric bill up here is similar to yours for a similar sized house.
Except my heat and domestic hot water are oil fired, and we cook with propane.
I'm anxiously awaiting a move South.

 

[daugen]

You might want to convert AU dollars to US to get a true comparison. I have no idea what the exchange rate is.

$1.00 Australian equals $1.04 US. Even slightly more expensive... but good point.

 

[DFB]

approx $0.1585 per kWh.

Geez and I thought mine was high 0.14669

 

[JBourquin]

Geez and I thought mine was high 0.14669

That's National Greed for ya.. They keep crying they want to jack up the prices every year for "maintenance"..

 

[Carl_NH]

DL, I'm glad to see your response here (and you know why!). I just reviewed the bill I got yesterday and the TOTAL per kW price after all fees, taxes, etc is $0.18. That ties the highest US rate posted in this thread; matched by a guy in NH.
My annual electric bill up here is similar to yours for a similar sized house.
Except my heat and domestic hot water are oil fired, and we cook with propane.
I'm anxiously awaiting a move South.

Rick - that was me @ $.18 per KWH $.09 for the electricity, and $.09 for the distribution. Similarly we heat with oil, FHW, and DHW too, and have a propane stove. Wife didn't want propane dryer so thats the biggest energy consumption @ 240 V other than the 1.5 HP well pump.

We use 550 KWH or $100 per month at the low point in Oct/Nov and in the summer with window AC and some irrigation running it goes to $130 for 850 KWH roughly.

The NE is one of the highest in the country with rates set by regulatory "recovery" of older power plants and maintenance of an aging infrastructure. Then they need to return to investors 5-6% per year.

 

[mehig]

In my area of central Kentucky we belong to the local RECC...Rural Electric Coop Corporation.... the rate is 0.1043 per KWH. I average a 1000-1250kwh per month. I also have Geo-thermal HVAC,with which I'm very satisfied.

 

[Alien]

You might want to convert AU dollars to US to get a true comparison. I have no idea what the exchange rate is.

$1.00 Australian equals $1.04 US. Even slightly more expensive... but good point.

LOL Yeah, our dollar is slightly higher than yours, but even if it fluctuates, a dollar is still a dollar. They don't put the price down when our dollar is worth more.
Update. I mentioned in my earlier post we suffered severe flooding 2 years ago. Right now we are copping it again. We can't get out to the shops as the creeks are flooded and the main street of Grantham is once again under water. Even getting tornadoes along the coast which is something that we don't see here. Doing lots of damage to homes and property. At least one person is swept away and many more rescued and evacuated.
Having trouble with the internet too, dropping out.

 

[mingus108]

My reason for investing in solar was a result in disappointment in the results of our retirement funds. Cd's were nonperforming, low interest rates where-ever we turned.
So why not take the funds & invest in a item that is guaranteed to give you a return on your investment for life?
With home insurance covering the system from storm damage, a life of at least 20 to 25 years.
With a normal payout in 10 years.
A solar system is the way to go now, there has been a major advance in technology just in the past 3 years.
It is a no-brainier.
Edit to add. I have been in 2 interviews with graduate students from UT of A over the last 2 years for their research papers.
Mainly about the costs, benefits and installation.
TXU has come up with more grant money for home owners here in Texas, so if you are with TXU find a solar installer fast.
The funds don't last long.

 

[daugen]

LOL Yeah, our dollar is slightly higher than yours, but even if it fluctuates, a dollar is still a dollar. They don't put the price down when our dollar is worth more.
Update. I mentioned in my earlier post we suffered severe flooding 2 years ago. Right now we are copping it again. We can't get out to the shops as the creeks are flooded and the main street of Grantham is once again under water. Even getting tornadoes along the coast which is something that we don't see here. Doing lots of damage to homes and property. At least one person is swept away and many more rescued and evacuated.
Having trouble with the internet too, dropping out.

Alien, be safe out there, sorry you are going through this.
Sounds like you may be busy with your tractor cleaning up.
Best wishes.

 

[Alien]

Nearly lost our daughter. This is her Prado in flood debri. She is OK apart from black eye and bruising.

 

[Alien]

Nearly lost our daughter. This is her Prado in flood debri. She is OK apart from black eye and bruising.

 

[daugen]

Alien, all of us hope she is ok,
best wishes being sent at:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269976&p=3168779#post3168779

 

[mehig]

Greetings Alien....Would you happen to know if there is any flooding in the Glenview area? It's about 2.5 hours north east of your location about 30 minutes west of Caloundra. My wife has kiwi relatives there and the last we heard from them the electricty was out. That was 5 days ago and no word since then. We can't seem to find any information regarding the area.

 

[Alien]

I could confidently say yes, even though I have not heard of the area being mentioned, but all areas around there are quite badly affected. It may be difficult to contact folks at present as communications and power have been compromised. If you can find their location on Google Earth and check their altitude is about the only thing I can suggest. Most low lying areas have been inundated. I know Kingaroy further inland has serious flooding and evacuations. There have been no reports of missing people in that area so don't be concerned. They found two bodies and a car in the local creek today. The creek my daughters car was in. They are hoping most power will be restored by Saturday. Sorry I can't help further.
Doug

 

[mehig]

I could confidently say yes, even though I have not heard of the area being mentioned, but all areas around there are quite badly affected. It may be difficult to contact folks at present as communications and power have been compromised. If you can find their location on Google Earth and check their altitude is about the only thing I can suggest. Most low lying areas have been inundated. I know Kingaroy further inland has serious flooding and evacuations. There have been no reports of missing people in that area so don't be concerned. They found two bodies and a car in the local creek today. The creek my daughters car was in. They are hoping most power will be restored by Saturday. Sorry I can't help further.
Doug

Thanks Doug for your reply......it's a comfort to at least communicate with someone on the same continent. After following your suggestion in regards to using Google Earth I can see their home is 10-15km from any flooding.

 

[KTurner]

Taking the simple approach of total bill / usage, ours averages $0.11/kwh over the past year. We have a nuclear plant ~15 miles away and a coal/natgas plant within a mile. The power company is having to upgrade the nearby plant, and will shut it down within 5 years, along with a couple other nearby plants due to the EPA regs. They'll have to run new 500kv transmission lines from a few counties away to offset the loss of power due to shutting these plants down. Estimated cost $100-$200 million just for the new transmission lines. There's a big debate over where those lines will run. Including whether they can run the wires over the river, or will have to go under the river (river=2-3 miles across). Under the river much more expensive. Soooo... I fully expect a significant increase in the coming years, over and above the increases due to inflation.
I've had my eye on solar for a while. We'll probably set something up at some point soon. Start small as an experiment.

Keith

 

[econometrics]

I'm paying $.108/kwh for 100% Texas wind. I could have got a better rate, but for 100% "green energy" on a 12mo contract, I'm happy.

 

[MtHam]

Here in California, we have some of the highest electric rates in the county-$0.22kwh on average! It can be higher! Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in Northern California uses a "tiered" rate plan. They have both summer and winter schedules. Peak and off-peak times. Starts out as low as $0.08, but zooms to over $0.50/kwh with higher usage in summer afternoons! They purposely make it very difficult to understand what you really are paying. Most consumers don't have a clue. Beware-such rates will come to everyone else with time. Thus I have invested in solar and turned a $4,000/year bill into near $0. Those who currently enjoy cheap electric rates, don't be fooled into thinking it will continue forever.